The stuff I found on this Japanese wood worker’s page is unlike anything I have seen anywhere else. Click on each of the nine pieces of work featured and look at the detail picture of the joint at bottom of new page. I still can’t get my head around how he does the curved pins to such precision. I have enough trouble with the exactness required with a standard dovetail saw and straight cuts.
http://www.eurus.dti.ne.jp/~k-yazawa/jointwork.html
Replies
The only thing that comes to mind is. Humbling.
The work is truly amazing, each piece is breathtakingly beautiful, a meditation in being. How do you remain humble yet undaunted?
Thanks for that post.. I just love Oriental work..
Like in my adopted Grandbabies! How could anybody put them at a roadside?
Anyway.. Just my opinion. I think most of the problems with making joints like those (besides YEARS of practice) is if you are like me,
you want to finish a job in a week that should take half a year or so...
I find that I and others I know can make almost anything IF they do not expect it will be finished tomorrow!
I bet he has a giant CNC in the back shop, Thanks for the post.
Aaron
Wow!
You know, it was seeing work like that years ago (probably in FWW), that put me right off of woodworking. I thought if that's the kind of work you have to do to achieve success in woodworking, forget about it! There is no way. It took me years to realize that as a "recreational woodworker" my joinery only had to be as good as what made me happy (and the wife, but she likes everything I make). I even saw in one of Tage Frid's books how to repair a loose dovetail with a piece of veneer. So even Tage must have cut a loose one once in awhile.
Now I can look at that kind of work with awe, amazement and inspiration. Maybe I'll pop back to that site and look for veneer repairs :-)
Suggest you hit the HOME And check out the rest of his site, All I saw in his shop were hand tools. Truly remarkable.Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
OMG What a workshop! I want Yazawa san to adopt me.
YEs. It is in the site. All hand tools and traditional techniques. Solid wood only. No veneers.
So even Tage must have cut a loose one once in awhile. I had to respond to this.. I have seen some REALLY old pretty peices where the joints look (well, less than professional) Could be time! Probably... BUT they still hold together!I have seen some stuff in China hundreds of years old that look perfect.. Bet that tree had growth rings so close ya thought it was one BIG one! OR the 'keeper' waxes the joints so ya' can't see them!
I have seen some REALLY old pretty pieces where the joints look (well, less than professional)
This is pretty much the point I was making. In fact I have a good example of this in an old chest of drawers my wife bought some 25 years ago (it was considered "old" when she bought it). Solid, well crafted, but some of the joinery is surprising by todays standards. But it has worked very well for a long time! This is kind of like my own "Getty cabinet." I'm hoping to restore the piece later this summer and I'll post some pictures then. I'll be looking for suggestions on some of the repairs.
The crack about Frid was of course made tongue-in-cheek. I'm sure the only loose DT's Tage saw were those of his students. You have to wonder if the guy really was human; anyone who could do that kind of woodwork with a saw that looked like something you would use to frame a barn. (More tongue-in-cheek) :')
-Chuck
Ditto! I hear ya..
Looks and function are VERY different!
I don't even know how to comment. There are days that I struggle with miters! Simply breathtaking!
John
WOW!!! Thanks for the link.
That is the work of a true craftsman!! Simply outstanding.
James
He does great work. Thanks for sharing it with us. Makes me feel a little small.
Those are the kind of pics FWW featured 20 yrs ago.
Thank you very much for introducing my joinery.
I am very happy to know that many readers are interested in my works.
That gave me power to challenge new further difficult work,which nobody has done before. Thank you. Kintaro Yazawa
Master Yazawa,
You enspire us. We are humbled by your work.
I am encouraged by your creativity and craftmanship to work to bring my own work up to a higher level.
Thank you.
Respectfully,
D. LaBolle
Kintaro san,
I too have been impressed by your work since I first saw it on your web site over a year ago. I would have never figured out how to cut those joints without your wonderful article. Thank you so much for sharing you knowledge with us.
I was so inspired that I dropped everything else I was doing and made a dovetailed stool for an art show here in Joseph that I needed a piece for. I was lucky enough to be working with a video crew on another piece they were taping and they made this video of me creating my Whale Tail Stool. Hope you enjoy the video. And I thank you so much for showing me how.
http://feister-dills-images.com/samples.html
Charlie Mastro
Mastro Woodworking & Design
http://www.mastrowoodworking.com
I am very happy to know that my technique is spreading over the world and inspiring many craftmen to produce new joint works. I enjoyed very much your video. You have a lot of Japanese tools! Kintaro Yazawa
Thank you Kintaro-san,
I am glad you liked the video. Thank you so much for the inspiration. I have been using mostly Japanese tools for over 25 years and the only other tools I used on the stool were some custom made dovetail chisels that I've had for over 20 years. You can see more of my work on my web site. http://www.mastrowoodworking.com
Charlie Mastro
Dear Kintaro Yazawa
Many woodworkers try to learn new skills.
Some woodworkers try to develop unique new designs.
Most of the unique designs are are neither beautiful nor functional.
You are the one woodworker who has been able to develop new joinery which is both functional and beautiful.
You have done more than any other woodworker to convince the rest of us that beautiful, practical innovation is possible.
I hope that you will be able to put more of your ideas into the Fine Woodworking magazine.
Good luck.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
Dear Mel,Thank you for your comment.Your comment encouraged me very much.I will be glad if I can have another chance to introduce my other idea sometime again on FWW magazine.
Kintaro
Taro, Your work will last for centuries in museums.
One question, is the little box in the second row fitted with a combination lock ? Amazing ! Those joints in particular astound me.Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Dear Bruce,
Thank you for your comment.Yes, the small safe box have a 4 combination lock at the right side.The numbers of the fingers on the top of the box is a hint to open it.
http://www.eurus.dti.ne.jp/~k-yazawa/finger.htmlKintaro
Edited 5/18/2007 11:00 pm ET by Taro
Edited 5/18/2007 11:00 pm ET by Taro
Hey Woodjoint.
What a great video! I'm going to make this our weekend feature on GlueTube (https://www.finewoodworking.com/gluetube), our video blog where we feature woodworker-generated videos from Vimeo and other video-sharing sites.
I think it's really great that you were able to incorporate this technique into a project, and you did a wonderful job with it. Let me know if you have any comments or questions about the blog. You can email me at [email protected] or reply to this post.
Matt BergerFine Woodworking
Thanks Matt,I'm glad you linked it to the blog here and it looks real good the way you set it up with all our links. Cathy Feister and Geoff Dills did such a wonderful job putting that together that it just blows me away. We are going to show it at the Arts Festival here in Joseph on June 1-3. http://wallowavalleyarts.org/index.htm
Cathy had been filming me doing some repai work on a 15 ft. long mantel from France that is going into the Bronze Antler B&B here in Joseph when I got the idea to do the stool which I needed for the art show so we just switched gears and she started shooting the next day. They did such a wonderful job and they just wanted to get their name out here in Walllowa County. They did news for years in DC and reality TV in LA before moving up here. Great break for me....Thanks again for posting this on the site we all appreciate it.Charlie Mastro
Taro,
It is people like you who define the word craftsman. people who hold themselves to their highest standard without compromise. I am amazed at the standard which you hold yourself to. Your art is inspiring.
Arne Mckinley
Much thanks for giving us an opportunity to see such stunning examples of this craft. I spent some time in the Tateshina Mt. and at lake Suwa which are out in the country. The simplest of the everyday wood crafted items there all seem to have a grace or feeling on another plane, it was amazing.
I saw one of their in-line scarf joints(about 30 years ago) used in a showcase rail. Think of two pieces of 1x3 marked into thirds on the flat, now bevel the right center up and the adjacent side thirds down. On the left side reverse the 3 bevels and push together. Oh, did I forget to mention that they all lock together with a tapered dovelail type key across the 6 pieces, sorry. Yea , I thought, I could do that-- sure I could if I started with a 12 foot stick on each side and prayed to God that there were none of the same joint at the other ends.- These are of course all hand cut.
By the way, I will be first on the adoption list as I would address him as Master Yazawa Sama, as my nose hit the tops of my shoes.
thanks again, Pat
He was just profiled in FWW #191. They show just how he cuts many of those joints.
Yea, Great stuff isn't it? I can't wait to see how other's use those new techniques as they create other new work. I wonder what he will come up with next....
D.L.
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